THE FUTURE OF FOOD IN SHOPPING CENTRES IS BRIGHT AS IT IS BUILT UPON FOOD AND DESIGN IN NEW URBAN SPACES AND PLACES

Small, Medium and Large shopping centres and precincts - Each must seize their food and hospitality opportunity and plan for success. No mall, retail centre or mixed-use development, can afford not to offer great food and service. The simplest café or food truck can offer great food, coffee and snacks thereby generating rental income for the landlord and a profit for the operator. It is all about positioning, professionalism, people and profitability regardless of size and location.

In the changing retail landscape Neighbourhood shopping centres are facing competition from online shopping, high street food deliveries like Uber & Deliveroo, high street dining precinct and the inevitable introduction of smart casual/ family restaurants within the building footprint of stand-alone cinemas and other entertainment precincts.

Smart Casual and Family Dining precincts are no longer the BASTAN of the larger malls and retail precincts. The smaller malls are starting to recognise the many benefits of increasing the food GLA and the development of dining precincts. They want to include roof tops and dining lanes.

We are seeing the emergence of mindfulness programs, health checks, exercise promotions and social programs to promote wellness for staff members but the one we want to focus on is food - the enabling of good food choices and providing hospitality through a well-planned food and beverage strategy that keeps your employees not only nourished but also satisfied and happy. Here are the three main ways a curated hospitality strategy for your arts, cultural or education institution can promote productivity and keep your employee’s happy.

We are seeing a development of food strategies that optimise the food experience for the people using public or private spaces whether it be customers of an art centre, students of a university or employees at an institution. Our focus on these projects is the activation, connection and engagement of the food in these spaces to enhance the overall cultural and learning experience of the user as well as improve business performance.

Food within institutions and companies has gained little airtime in the past when it was provided as an afterthought or company cafes were placed as a space filler, gaining business by default due to workers passing through. Nowadays we are seeing a growing body of institutions and companies who are incorporating food into their business strategy as a way of living up to their ethos. This is because food has and will continue to become an integral part of our lives as it is not only a necessity to us to have but the hospitality of food is a powerful way to stand by values if you provide it based on building relationships, supporting wellbeing and choosing brands/offers which align with your core values. Here are three major ways in which a hospitality strategy can be a part of your core values.

By 2019, the US food hall marketplace will have more than doubled in size in just four years and Europe who already has over 100 food halls dotted across it has double that figure in the pipeline. As with all trends, not every one of these food halls will succeed and reach business sustainability however, the past and present show that the food hall which aims to embrace the community it is in, model its masterplan based on the new consumer and provide top-tier food options based on quality as well as reputation are and will be placed in an advantageous position in Today's food and hospitality marketplace.

Restaurant management platform, SevenRooms has been exploring the shift in consumer needs when it comes to dining out and the results have just come through in their recent report “Turning a Meal Into an Experience” to define exactly what hospitality can focus on to gain customer loyalty. With the focus shifting from food alone to an all-encompassing experience, understanding the key points that enhance or deflate an experience are key. Interestingly enough, a large part of the results can be applied to not only to the hospitality industry but the retail and entertainment industries also who are seeking to provide that ‘value-add’ - the experience, that cannot be found online. From making a space atmospheric to using a customer’s name, here’s what you can take home from the report:

Saying that a food collective concept is a ‘new’ one might be technically incorrect but in the last year or so, their popularity has spiked. A food collective is a concept that contains more than one type of food option in the one outlet. You could consider it as a small-scale fresh food market or food hall where you can get a curated selection of food items like fresh made paninis, hand-tossed salads, daily desserts and local bakery goods all in one confined space.

Strategic masterplanning is a central component of a city’s or shopping centre’s night time economy. With successful application and maintenance of a evening-inclusive masterplan within centres, developments or other mixed-use sites, there is major potential to maximise sales and subsequently, optimise rental rates.So, what are the key elements that are required to developing the experience and food and hospitality offer to create successful night time trade?

There is one type of food outlet found outside the food court that consistently meets these customer expectations and is becoming a suitable benchmark for the way in which food operators conduct themselves and precinct management services an area. That outlet is the much-loved, local cafe.

Tapping into the customer’s need for experience is a relevant part of all retail and luckily for the food and hospitality industry, giving that to them is not difficult to do with dining and eating being an experience in itself. However, as the industry grows and businesses continue to compete for customer spend it is important that developers and retail masterplanners continually develop the experience they are offering to continue enticing the customer and fulfil their want to spend on more than just a sandwich wrapped in paper. Here are just four simple ways in which food precincts and operators within developments around the world are delivering on an experiential level.

In 2017, we explored food and hospitality from all angles delving into what it means from a social, technological and economical perspective. We went back into what food means on a very fundamental level through to what food and hospitality will mean in the future and landed on the fact that food and hospitality are mainstays in modern precincts and developments for the life it brings to a space and the experiential aspect of enjoying a meal that current and future generations are seeking. From how to design a menu through to what tech disruption is causing in the food and hospitality industry, here are our most read articles of 2017.

Francis Loughran, founder and managing director of Future Food, foresees more beautiful cafes and restaurants in our malls and high streets as operators move beyond just food and focus on design-driven spaces and genuine customer service. Read Future Food's ten predictions for food, beverage and hospitality trends that will surface in 2018.

Food and hospitality isn’t technology-proof. It may be less susceptible to the disruption that it has caused retail however, food and beverage businesses need to balance themselves on a fine line to ensure that they are giving their customer the most seamless transaction possible using the technology that people refer to on a daily basis (i.e Apple Pay, online ordering services, review websites) without losing that human factor of hospitality, a major component of a memorable experience.

Recent research published by Roy Morgan has shown that 11.8 million people visit a quick service restaurant (QSR) every month in Australia. This figure is 13% higher on what it was four years ago meaning more and more Australians are frequenting QSR’s however, it also means that the competition in the QSR sector is far greater. So who topped the charts for customer satisfaction this year?

Whilst it is easy to say what good a food precinct can do, an important part of our project delivery is to ensure that the precincts we deliver overcome major operational challenges that come with having food and beverage outlets operating in the space. We’ve listed 4 major operational challenges that are specific to a food and beverage precinct and must be addressed to ensure operational and business efficiency

The food and beverage category has been growing strongly and does not appear to be slowing down. When we look at the fact that Australians alone are spending $45 billion per year on eating out, it comes as no surprise why developments and precincts are filling up the space with more food and beverage offerings to raise more business. What is it that is driving this growth in the food and beverage category? What is drawing the customer in more than ever? and what makes them see value in food so much as to invest into it?

Analysing your target customer is step one to providing a curated and strategic food and beverage masterplan. The Future Food model to masterplanning is customer-centric meaning our team work to understand and intricately assess just who uses the space in order to create a set of food and beverage concepts that satisfy everyone’s wants and needs.

We’ve put together a quick guide to show you the different types of concepts, who uses them and how this looks in reality with examples given from one of our recent retail projects at Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

Last week’s post introduced mixed-use developments to our readers including what they are and what makes them appealing to the modern person. With people wanting a more centralised life, the mixed-use development is perfect for those seeking to live, work and play in the same space as it satisfies the convenience factor, the liveability factor and the need for social connection with ease.

So what do you put in a mixed-use development? What food and beverage outlets would make it a convenient, liveable and social building? We’ve put together a basic outline of what could go into these developments to ensure it meets success status for both the asset owner and the customer using it.

Over the last few years, the food and beverage industry has changed the way it perceives customer service. As consumers become more digitally driven and want more, faster from their real time experiences, operators are seeing that people are seeking quality, value and speed all served up with a side of hospitality, the differentiating factor that separates the good operators from the average ones. But what is the difference between customer service and hospitality and why is it so important to have both?

Shopping centres are becoming community spaces as opposed to the traditional shopping hub they once were. These spaces are purpose built for people to meet, eat and be entertained in, The industry has the opportunity to create developments that are usable and desirable to the modern customer. Our customers now have the world of shopping in the palm of their hands and hence are looking for that differentiating factor from the spaces they visit. To support this transition, food and entertainment within these spaces has and will continue to grow as an asset category as they provide the point-of-difference (POD), the customer experience and memorable hospitality that cannot be found on the web.

Keeping an eye on the experience you’re delivering to your customers is necessary to ensure you’re still doing a good job. Staff can quickly drop their standards, customers can adjust their wants and needs or centre management can change hands - all of which can lead to a change in the customer experience or what the customer expects from their time with you. This is why it’s important to monitor how you’re doing and continue to implement strategies to elevate the F&B experience. Here are four tips to ensure you continue to improve the customer experience to give them more and more of what they want to ultimately better your business.

The Alley, a plant-based eatery is about to open on St Kilda Road in Melbourne. It will be serving up 100% vegan food in a fast and casual environment, something we haven’t seen too much of in plant-based F&B offers to date. The menu is going to consist of burgers made in-house, pastas, cold-pressed juices, baked treats and other vegan sweets with burgers being filled with pulled jackfruit instead of pulled pork and ice cream made from coconut milk instead of dairy. Read more to find out exactly what it is about this concept that makes us tick.

We identified in our previous blog post (Eating out in Australia: 2016 in Review) that staffing remains to be one of the biggest issues facing the hospitality industry not because there is a shortage of people to do the job but because there are less people doing the job well and being rewarded for it when they do which comes down to training and management.

Fine dining has been evolving in the hospitality world lately and it’s not doing it in the direction of becoming more ‘fine’ in its accessibility but it’s actually evolving into the fast food category meaning people are able to get their hands on high quality food, quickly in many more retail precincts around the world. Fast ‘fine’ food is elevating the way people see food in these precincts and is allowing people to make good food choices without having to think too hard at all.

2016 brought in a new set of data delivered by Intermedia on what it means as Australia to ‘eat out’. It’s the first time data has been assessed like this thanks to a combination of operator research, consumer interviews and statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Here's what we learnt.

We've delved a little deeper than these and have identified 10 trends that are growing in the food, beverage and hospitality category related not only to what people will be eating this year but also the business of food to set our clients or potential partners up with a brief insight into how you can do well with food and hospitality this year and beyond.

We take five with our expert Food Consultant at Future Food to talk about what is happening with food and hospitality in Arts, Culture and Education (ACE) precincts, who is leading the way and what the future of food looks like in these spaces.

For the modern customer, speed and convenience are top priorities when it comes to their food and beverage choices however, quality is now just as important and is a pull for customer spend. But can we have it all? Can you provide a fast and convenient offer without skimping on excellence? Apparently we can and it’s drink market that is showing us how! We take a look into how the beverage category of F&B is letting us have our cake and eat it too...

In the changing retail landscape Neighbourhood shopping centres are facing competition from online shopping, high street food deliveries like Uber & Deliveroo, high street dining precinct and the inevitable introduction of smart casual/ family restaurants within the building footprint of stand-alone cinemas and other entertainment precincts.

Smart Casual and Family Dining precincts are no longer the BASTAN of the larger malls and retail precincts. The smaller malls are starting to recognise the many benefits of increasing the food GLA and the development of dining precincts. They want to include roof tops and dining lanes.

So far, 2018 has been the year of the fresh food market for Future Food. With a number of projects in the pipeline as well as a number recently completed including the Adelaide Central Market and Box Hill Central, we are seeing strong growth in this hospitality sector. The growth is sparking interest in market management and developers around the globe to reposition and reinvigorate existing markets to ride this growth or include market concepts in the masterplans of future developments.

We are seeing the emergence of mindfulness programs, health checks, exercise promotions and social programs to promote wellness for staff members but the one we want to focus on is food - the enabling of good food choices and providing hospitality through a well-planned food and beverage strategy that keeps your employees not only nourished but also satisfied and happy. Here are the three main ways a curated hospitality strategy for your arts, cultural or education institution can promote productivity and keep your employee’s happy.

Just as for any business, business growth in the arts, cultural or educational category needs to be looked at both in terms of how organic growth can be gained as well as new business growth. This is where a well-planned hospitality strategy can achieve both. Let us talk you through how.

For the Millennials, it was “is it organic?” but for Generation Y and Generation Z, the big question on their lips is “is your business ethical?”. These up and coming generations care for not only the food they consume on an individual level, but the supply chain in which it came through to get there and what happens afterwards. With these generations moving into the spending seat and favouring food purchases over many other categories, how can your hospitality business ensure it upholds ethical standards that not only win the hearts of these customers but gives back to the community it services? We’ve got three ways for you to get started.

Today, food and beverage is one of the biggest assets to a development proven by the exponential growth that has occurred in this category over the last few years. The global food and beverage market has been growing at roughly 5% a year and in doing so, food outlets are now making up over 20% of new and redeveloped retail centres as they become a mainstay and an anchor for shopping centre success. Over the years, and as avid foodies, the Future Food team have learnt that there are a set of common key components that successful hospitality masterplans posses.

According to The NPD Group’s latest market research, brunch is currently the most popular day-part for not only full service restaurants (FSR) but quick service restaurants (QSR) and retail as well with it experiencing a 12% visit growth across all sectors in 2017. And a similar trend is being experienced globally with more people looking up places to eat brunch on Google than ever before. What makes this day-part so appealing to our emerging population?

We first introduced you to the Gen Z generation last year where we discussed what the food landscape is predicted to look like to appeal to this uprising age group (8 Things You Need to Know About Generation Z). Time has passed and the industry is even more focussed on this group who are fast becoming key customers, particularly when it comes to food. As they continue to grow up and begin making independent purchasing decisions; media attention, market research and advertising campaigns are analysing a generation to understand exactly what it is they want and need.

Technology has transformed drastically since Future Food first set out on a mission to create customer-centric food precincts. Back then, we had access to large chunks of information explaining demographic groups such age, sex and ethnicity that would assist us in creating hospitality spaces designed for our project’s identified users. Demographics were the starting point however, nowadays as people become more connected and groups become less defined, demographics may not be the most useful tool to go off anymore.

Is it possible that the modern lifestyle destination will drop the four-letter word M.A.L.L. as it reinvents itself as a mixed-use project? These spaces are now featuring food, hospitality, entertainment and other experiential asset-growth segments which expand beyond the four-letter word, mall. As advisors to the retail industry, we are witnessing a number of important changes in the sector. Here are our top 10 changes shaping the way these developments are created.

At the inception, a shopping mall was a simply structured space that provided a one-stop-shop for household commodities and other retail items. Today, the function, design and overall purpose of the shopping mall as vastly changed. Walk through the evolution of the shopping mall, from what it has been to what it is now and what it will be in the future.

The successful centres around the globe are focussing on three key components. One point that we cannot express enough is that what was once a stock-standard formula for creating a mall that satisfied is no longer. Every community, every customer, every space in a different suburb, city or country demands something different and knowing exactly what that is is pivotal to the development and success of a centre. However, these three components are proving to be a common thread in the malls that are standing out from the crowd and defining them as ‘more than just a mall’.

Last week, we talked about sustainability in the food and hospitality industry. We at Future Food believe the environmental impact your food business has is a key component of your success as it not only promotes consumer following but also reduces long-term costs leaving your business more room to grow. It is also a responsibility that the food and hospitality industry must own as it is no longer acceptable to waste resources and contribute negatively to the world around us.

So for this week’s Feed article, we are going to walk you through the important steps of assessing your business on how sustainable it is on an operational level and where changes can be made to achieve your sustainability goals.

Sustainability in the food and hospitality sector is a big topic to touch on. Future Food placed it on the list of top 10 trends to look out for in 2018 with it being less of a ‘trend’ and more of responsibility that food and hospitality businesses must now uphold. Whether it’s a food precinct in a development or a single food operator, we all need to be thinking about ways in which we can deliver on sustainability to ensure the food and hospitality industry is doing their part for the environment and in doing so, business gains can be achieved.

Rocking up to sporting events, including the Australian Open, in years gone by has been little more than a spectator experience as you watch the top tennis players battle it out on the court. But times have changed and now it’s not only the top tennis players taking centre court. Some of the world’s best chefs are setting up shop this year to make the Open a sporting event like no other.

It’s one thing to say that the food and beverage industry has continued to grow but it’s another to back it up with data. Intermedia have released their annual market research report exploring the spend, behaviour and preference of the Australian population when it comes to eating out. Continue reading to learn just what Australians got up to last when they went out to eat, dine and enjoy.

Francis Loughran, founder and managing director of Future Food, foresees more beautiful cafes and restaurants in our malls and high streets as operators move beyond just food and focus on design-driven spaces and genuine customer service. Read Future Food's ten predictions for food, beverage and hospitality trends that will surface in 2018.

At Future Food, we are constantly on the lookout for operators and concepts that are pushing the envelope on the food and beverage experience. Whether it's a modern update on the classic sandwich bar or an on-trend superfood cafe to replace the chain coffee shop, we are enjoying the growth in unique, customer-centric and exciting options we have when it comes to masterplanning precincts and projects which we work on. We've listed 10 food and beverage brands from around Australia which have caught our eye this year.

Around the globe, the food and beverage markets is growing with reasons for and rate of growth varying dependant on the region whether it's The Middle East and Africa, The Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. These variations come from changes in lifestyle situations, cultural shifts and the economic status of each region however, one thing that does not vary between regions is that the food and beverage market is attracting bigger spends from consumers in each region than ever before. We've put together a brief snapshot of how the global food and beverage market looks today as determined by Cushman & Wakefield's market report for 2017 as well as discuss what the future growth of food and beverage holds for regions around the world.

Where once the only way to access new clothes, homewares, luxury items and groceries was to visit a brick and mortar store, now people can do all of their shopping online without visiting a store at all. Australia’s e-commerce alone sales topped $20 billion in 2016. So how do you keep people coming in to your shopfront, retail centre of precinct? How does brick and mortar retail remain relevant in a world where people do their retail shopping online? The answer is you provide an experience and that experience is food.

All eyes have been on the Millennials over the last five years as they’ve been the big spenders in the food and beverage category, the ones forging the path of new trends and changing the way we create, serve and deliver food and precincts around the globe. The Millennials were part of a transformation, a technology upgrade which allowed information to be spread like wildfire making it more important for operators to be transparent, conscious and connected in their food offering. Now we’ve got Generation Z waiting at the door.

We’ve broken down the three core elements of a successful food precinct - people, place and product. By delivering on all three elements, your food precinct is set to be a successful, thriving space that people want visit, spend money at and return to time and time again.

Managing Director and leading food expert for Future Food, Francis Loughran sat down with Colliers International in New Zealand to talk about where food in retail has been, where it is now and where it is headed for the future. The original article was published as part of Collier International's Christchurch City Retail Portfolio which can be viewed here.

Whether your precinct is part of a transport hub, retail centre, arts centre or business park, a good strike rate remains a key part of a highly successful and sustainable food offer as well as overall development with food and hospitality being a major drawcard and anchor for centres and spaces around the world. We’ve put together our quick checklist for what it takes to get your customers using all parts of the precinct, time and time again.

Performance tracking informs how you’re tracking and where you need to adjust to ensure you continue tracking successfully. When resources and structures required to implement performance tracking are not allocated, whether you’re a single operator or entire food precinct, it becomes very difficult for there to be any analysis done and therefore, any developments to be made. With the food and beverage industry being a highly competitive marketplace, it’s in everyone’s best interest to incorporate routine performance tracking to ensure you’re meeting your customer wants and needs and therefore improving your ability to meet your business targets. Continue reading to learn how small, informed improvements across multiple operators in a precinct can bring about gains in the millions for your precinct.

With the arrival of the new financial year comes a time to consider how the next year will pan out for your business. Whether you’re a developer or single operator, how will you continue to increase business growth and maintain asset value in this highly competitive and growing industry that is hospitality? With retails majors such as David Jones announcing their $100million investment into the food sector, it’s no doubt that businesses are all grabbing for a slice of the ‘food and beverage’ pie. Future Food has put together 10 key principles to ensure your retail centre’s food and beverage offer stays ahead for the next financial year and beyond.

Whilst the hospitality industry might be protected from the impact of technology, it is still important that we are across how consumers are using technology as it plays a major role in how customers are making their decision on where and what they spend their food dollars on.

The Digital Foodscape is the language of Millennials (the foodie generation) and Gen Z (the MasterChef generation). They read menus on their phones, choose items based on the photos they’ve seen and share their experiences with friends via their own social media platforms.

Francis Loughran’s projects and study tours take him far and wide in search of the best food and the best brands when it comes to food. Over the past few weeks Francis has been reviewing some of New Zealand’s newest and hippest new food designations; The Press Hall in Wellington’s CBD (80 Willis Street) and Queen’s Rise in Queen Street, central Auckland. Today, the focus here is on Wellington.

NH Architecture is one of Melbourne’s leading architecture studios and currently they are working on a number of retail precincts where food and hospitality are central to the development. Having partnered with Future Food on a number of projects over the years, we sat down with NH’s Managing Director, Roger Nelson, to talk about his view on food and design and what is considered by an architect when a hospitality precinct is being developed.

With every competitor in the market now understanding that an ‘experience’ is now a minimum expectation, creating a design concept or precinct design that is outstanding on an experiential level, can be challenging. How will customers remember your food and beverage offer from the next? We have eight recommendations that will help to create an elevated experience using interior design as the primary tool. By elevating the design of your interior space using some or all of these recommendations, you can create the best environment for memories and customer loyalty time and time again.

At the inception, a shopping mall was a simply structured space that provided a one-stop-shop for household commodities and other retail items. Today, the function, design and overall purpose of the shopping mall as vastly changed. Walk through the evolution of the shopping mall, from what it has been to what it is now and what it will be in the future.

The successful centres around the globe are focussing on three key components. One point that we cannot express enough is that what was once a stock-standard formula for creating a mall that satisfied is no longer. Every community, every customer, every space in a different suburb, city or country demands something different and knowing exactly what that is is pivotal to the development and success of a centre. However, these three components are proving to be a common thread in the malls that are standing out from the crowd and defining them as ‘more than just a mall’.

On November 15th , the official winners were announced for the national competition and here they are, 2017's best bar, restaurant, cafe, retail and identity as determined by the Eat Drink Design jury.

The Eat Drink Design Awards are an annual event celebrating innovation and excellence in the design of hospitality premises of all scales and types, retail environments for the sale of food and beverages and visual identities for both. We’ve selected our favourites from each category within our hometown of Melbourne (plus one outlier we couldn't pass). Some we’ve tried, others are on the top of the list but all-in-all these are the places that are paving the way for great design in the hospitality category.

As a consumer, whether we like it or not, psychology has been used to determine the way we create and angle marketing and as we focus more on the customer, understanding the psychology of these people is a key part of business success. As an operator, there are many ways we can use this to our advantage to maximise sales opportunities and profit margins and increase customer satisfaction as well as return visitation.

We took five with Caroline Beresford of Caroline Beresford Design in Sydney to talk about the way in which interior design can enhance a hospitality concept and makes up such a large and important part of an overall hospitality business strategy.

It is believed that up to 35% of all food sales are generated form impulse purchases and this rises to 45% in some countries in Asia. But what does this have to do with the design of your space? Purchase paths are key to gaining these transactions within a precinct and it all comes down to the way a space is designed to allow customers to walk through, seek out and purchase with ease and sometimes without even thinking.

Gaining appeal and setting the mood of food and beverage outlets means engaging the customers eye with purposeful visual cues from ambient lighting to consistent and bold branding. We want to explore the use of lighting techniques and graphic design in hospitality and how these harmonise with a food and beverage outlet’s offering to complete the look and feel of the place.

The way a customer rates a place is not on the size or scale of the shop, it is how immersive and experiential the environment is and how it compliments the food offering - food and design need to work in harmony which means operational efficiencies and ergonomic design need to be implemented perfectly. Let’s delve deeper into the key considerations of a concept to ensure functionality meets clever and creative design.

We recently had some clients from New Zealand come town who we are working on a retail precinct project with alongside NH Architecture. As our city has some of the best design for hospitality, showing them around and exploring what can be done with food-focused spaces allowed a conversation to start and inspiration to be drawn. This is an integral process to elevate a project to a level that sets it apart from the rest.

Walk through the tour we took the team on and see where inspiration is being drawn from in our city of Melbourne.

The Eat Drink Design Awards are an annual event celebratinginnovation and excellence in the design of hospitality premises of all scales and types, retail environments for the sale of food and beverages and visual identities for both. We’ve selected our favourites from each category within our hometown of Melbourne. Some we’ve tried, others are on the top of the list but all-in-all these are the places that are paving the way for great design in the hospitality category.

We’ve learnt a lot about BOH design over the years as we’ve watched some set-ups fail to function and others thrive on clever design. It’s one of those things that unless you’ve been in BOH spaces a lot, it’s hard to know what will and won’t work and how to incorporate that into something that also looks great. So, here are four key points we always consider with the design team when thinking about back-of-house design to ensure the space functions well...

Front of house (FOH) design is mostly about creating a space that customers can engage with and feel comfortable in meaning it is more to do with the psychology of your customers rather than the actual food. FOH design has the power to convey your offer’s message within the first glance as well as ensure a customer feels welcome in the space, can move through the space with ease and purchase everything they might want and need from their visit before exiting the outlet feeling comfortable and content...

Future Food’s master planning work on the Starfield Cheongna Mall in Seoul has required Consultants Allan Forsdick and Francis Loughran to spend considerable time in Seoul over the past year. This is the third mall Future Food have Masterplanned for Shinsegae and the senior team at Future Food are very familiar with the culinary diversity and delights of food across Korea and in particularly in Seoul.

So far, 2018 has been the year of the fresh food market for Future Food. With a number of projects in the pipeline as well as a number recently completed including the Adelaide Central Market and Box Hill Central, we are seeing strong growth in this hospitality sector. The growth is sparking interest in market management and developers around the globe to reposition and reinvigorate existing markets to ride this growth or include market concepts in the masterplans of future developments.

Over our forty years`of experience, Future Food has worked alongside innovative developers and property management companies to redefine the way food hospitality is planned, delivered and managed in our workplaces and office lobbies. Collins Square, a Future Food project that was delivered in partnership with leading Australian developer, Walker Corporation is a good example of how a hospitality strategy combined with a range of other place-led initiatives can elevate the workplace experience.

Future Food were brought onto the Shinsegae Starfield project as the principal hospitality masterplanners to work alongside owners, Shinsegae Property and Taubmans Asia. With an investment price tag of $1.3 billion, the scale of this project is one of the the biggest Korea has seen. See how Future Food tackled this project to deliver a world class dining experience to suit the elevated retail and entertainment offer at Shinsegae Starfield, Hanam.

Haberdasher Cafe at Debenhams, St Collin's Lane is one of Future Food's latest concept projects that has been completed with great success. Read what involvement our team had on the project, who we worked alongside and see the finished product - a beautiful, refined space with a considered menu designed for their target customer.

Last week, Future Food’s Managing Director, Francis Loughran joined a group of industry experts in Bangkok to speak at the International Council of Shopping Centers’ event, RECon Asia Pacific. RECon is the largest global gathering of real estate professionals under one roof, with more than a thousand of the world’s leading developers, owners, retailers and more attending the three day event. Find out the key insights Francis discussed at the conference and how food will shape the future of malls around the globe.

In October 2016, the doors to the reinvigorated Chadstone Shopping Centre were swung wide open. Future Food had the pleasure of working alongside this project, assisting in creating an innovative and strategic food mix across both new dining precincts, including 24 outlets in Food Central and seven full-service style restaurants in The Dining Terrace, one of which was Marae Izakaya. Last Thursday marked the one year anniversary since the opening of Marae Izakaya. The team enjoyed a night filled with music, Japanese tradition, culture, delicious food and vintage sake cracking barrel services.

In November 2016, Future Food was engaged by the South Melbourne Market to form part of the selection committee to choose a potential chocolate specialist operator capable of delivering a modern chocolate patisserie at the Market. ATYPIC Chocolate was the business selected based on their passion for perfection for all things chocolate and to provide a business opportunity to two young and budding entrepreneurs.

One of the latest Future Food projects has just been completed at Chadstone Shopping Centre, Melbourne. Chadstone has always been know as ‘The Fashion Capital’ but now it is also 'The Food Capital', following a $660 million redevelopment that has reinvigorated Chadstone’s shopping experience. Future Food collaborated with the redevelopment team to masterplan the two new dining precincts including a dining terrace and a family-friendly food court.

As part of Future Food’s European projects and our most recent project in Budapest, our team sets off to Belgrade to explore what the city has to offer.

There’s plenty of reasons to visit Belgrade, The capital of the Republic of Serbia, but as usual for us, it’s all about food!

Belgrade is the natural meeting point of the rivers, Sava and Danube. It is a very cosmopolitan city as you’d expect in a Central/Eastern European Capital and the raw, hard streets speak a story of the history of its people. But under the hard exterior, you’ll find that the people open up as soon as they realise you’re a visitor. Many can, and are willing to speak English and are happy and proud to demonstrate their culture, food and beverages (the infamous Rakija). And food is a big part of the culture!

Francis Loughran’s projects and study tours take him far and wide in search of the best food and the best brands when it comes to food. Over the past few weeks Francis has been reviewing some of New Zealand’s newest and hippest new food designations; The Press Hall in Wellington’s CBD (80 Willis Street) and Queen’s Rise in Queen Street, central Auckland. Today, the focus here is on Wellington.

Future Food’s master planning work on the Starfield Cheongna Mall in Seoul has required Consultants Allan Forsdick and Francis Loughran to spend considerable time in Seoul over the past year. This is the third mall Future Food have Masterplanned for Shinsegae and the senior team at Future Food are very familiar with the culinary diversity and delights of food across Korea and in particularly in Seoul.

By 2019, the US food hall marketplace will have more than doubled in size in just four years and Europe who already has over 100 food halls dotted across it has double that figure in the pipeline. As with all trends, not every one of these food halls will succeed and reach business sustainability however, the past and present show that the food hall which aims to embrace the community it is in, model its masterplan based on the new consumer and provide top-tier food options based on quality as well as reputation are and will be placed in an advantageous position in Today's food and hospitality marketplace.

From haute-cuisine restaurants to all-day cafés, brasserie, food stores, bistros, salon du the, markets and eccentric wine bars, Paris has a huge variety of places to eat, drink, dine and enjoy culinary journeys. When it comes to eating and dining, the following will help with the daily decision making of where to eat and what do the following “culinary-styles” mean.

The team at Future Food have worked in India for many years. Our work has required us to visit my cities including Delhi, Channai and Bangalore. One city has stood out in culinary terms and that city is Mumbai. Last month, Francis Loughran spent three days in Mumbai as part of a research trip to look at food and placemaking for a new project in the heart of Mumbai’s business hub, Bandra Kurla. Here is the city as he experienced it, in all it's food glory.

Sure, this city has great architecture, museums and sports venues. But at its heart, Chicago is a food town. This is evident in the priority that good eating takes no matter the occasion. It is well known that locals will wait in a line (rain or shine) that snakes around the corner for dolled-up doughnuts at Doughnut Vault. And like any modern foodie around the world, they love to talk about their most recent meal. In my following list; you’ll find our top picks, from quick bites to multi course meals, in the city’s best dining neighbourhoods. Check out the following from my recent six day trip.

On a recent business trip to North America where I visited the food capitals of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles (LA), I can safely say that I experienced some extremely wonderful cafes, restaurants and of course a range of pop-ups and food trucks that America is so well known for. The city that struck a culinary-chord with me though was LA - a city of vibrant culture, cuisine and dynamic food offers with no shortage of experience and elevated hospitality.

One would need many weeks to taste the many local and adopted cuisines which reflect the multicultural city it is today. Whilst meatballs are popular in Sweden (or in any city globally that boasts an IKEA) they are not the staple dish. That's because Stockholm's food scene is a rousing blend of culinary influences. See where Future Food's Managing Director, Francis, found his favourite food experiences in the exciting city of Stockholm.

A series of culinary guides from Future Food's travels around the globe. Future Food Director, Francis Loughran shares his favourite foodie experiences of our North island next door neighbour, Auckland...

June saw Francis Loughran, MD of Future Food, return to his home shore of Ireland where he combined business and pleasure. Whilst in the green isle, Francis spent time to visit friends and family in Belfast, Galway, Cork and Dublin where he also collected insights and inspiration for the three Future Food shopping centre projects in Dublin and learned how food in Ireland is now aligned with its European counterparts...